How Many Murdered women does it take to change a culture?

Two hundred thousand men and women protesters turned out en masse in Argentina to bring attention to a growing global problem, that of the wholesale slaughter of women and girls. Everyday there is another missing mother, daughter, wife. They are often murdered by men they know, husband or boyfriend or someone who feels rejected. These men all too often go unpunished. Women are raped and beaten routinely around the world. The problem is indicative of the larger issue; that of the almost complete lack of respect and value for the Feminine.Goto the POV page on this site to watch the video and read the article.

Emily Blunt, actress at the Cannes Film Festival spoke out against the insane rule that women are not allowed on the red carpet in flat shoes!They must wear high heels. Sorry, Audrey Hepburn, (famous for her flats) that would rule you out. What the hell is going on in this world?It is obvious that the feminine is a big threat and must be reined in and shackled. You don’t think this incident has anything to do with the world wide movement to silence women?Oh yes it does.Wonder when baby girls will have their little pink toes bound back and broken just like the good old days?If you pay attention you will see this all over the place. Girls kidnapped and raped by so called armies.Genital mutilation still practiced.Sexual assault in the military and on our campuses.There is a movement to kill the feminine spirit before it has a chance to develop, thus perhaps, demanding a place at the table. Oh no, we can’t have that.The Feminine might quell our killer instincts. We might actually be swayed into extending compassion into the world.She might make us consider our actions and the affect they have on our environment.Holy Hajib! Bring out the Burkas.Maybe if we can’t see her she will stay in her place and shut the hell up.

I once spoke at a senior center about the role of religion and how some of what is taught has been damaging to our shared culture.A nice lady stood up and declared “But we must respect everyone’s beliefs.”I replied “No, we must respect their right to believe it, but we do not have to respect what they believe. In fact we owe it to the quality of our life to challenge those beliefs which suppress or oppress people.” Why do women visiting Muslim countries have to cover their heads? Is this really part of a religion? Is it because their hair is so seductive that men will not be able to control their sexual impulses.?Is it because women are the temptresses who cannot be allowed to show their charms lest men go crazy and rape them, which would then be the fault of the woman?That is how it looks from here. Men who visit those countries do not have to cover their hair.That is why the question is important. Why are women singled out if not because of the ignorant interpretation of the role of Eve? This misunderstanding of an allegorical tale about the One becoming the Many has caused terrible abuses of women and the denial of the necessary role of the Feminine in our world.

By Carol CarnesWhen the female CEO of a marketing company goes online to declare that no woman should ever be president because we are hormonal and not fit to “start a war” we see firsthand how insidious is the issue of gender bias.This woman cannot be stupid and that underscores the depth of the cultural bias against the Feminine.She has been convinced of a problem that does not exist.In addition, the notion that good leadership is about starting wars is perhaps a more serious threat to humanity.There was a time when husbands routinely institutionalized their wives if they were“hysterical” (or were in the way!) or wanted to be seen and heard and granted their civil rights.Sometimes they were given hysterectomies or lobotomies or were simply locked away.In the recent film ”Lincoln” we saw this perfectly depicted by Sally Fields as Mary Todd Lincoln, who was so distraught after losing a son to war and the fear of losing another.She begged her husband (the President of the United States) to not lock her away because she was so upset about the horrors of war.We are still dealing with a strange fear of what women symbolize which is simply the Feminine tendency to find ways to bring harmony and peace to the “family.”This is not welcomed by the Masculine forces that profit from war and mayhem. As far as hormones affecting us, there is nothing crankier than a man who is not getting laid on a regular basis!How many so called political leaders have had their careers sidetracked because of sex? What decisions did they make during that time of stress and subterfuge as they kept a mistress in hiding? This is not about male or female.Both sexes are affected by the physical, mental and spiritual condition of their mind and body.No one is fit to be president who does not allow the Feminine aspect of their own being to have an equal voice in their decisions.How is this to be realized if we continue to promote the image of a male God who runs things like a negligent parent?Where is this God as children die of starvation, women are stolen, raped and trafficked as sex slaves?Where is this loving Father when little boys are made to carry rifles and kill their own people?Even our construct of God is out of balance! He lacks the Feminine as well.The Heart of the Matter is that we are missing the Heart of the Matter.Perhaps the women currently running for office have had to overdevelop their masculine aspect to get where they are, but from deep within, the Feminine will rise when she is needed.A woman president will be the first step in changing our world profoundly.This is why she is so feared; not because she might be “hormonal” but because she might threaten the privileged few and promote equality for the world’s most marginalized members of our human family.We desperately need her in leadership.

There seem to be two Americas.There is the America of lilt and swing and there is the America of march and control. These are musical references which show how our culture has been influence by the Puritan European reigning in of nature and the African freedom with its joyful expression of all that is natural.It is the contrast between ballroom dance with its precise foot-steps and free style movement which celebrates the whole body.The young tend to lilt and swing and to rebel against march and control until they discover that lilt and swing do not usually produce a good income!Not in this culture.These references were part of a talk by the late Alan Watts, but I have often thought myself that if we did not have the influence of our Black rhythm culture, we would be marching in lockstep, forever trying to defeat Nature.Racism is the tension between the two impulses:as Watts said, there is a distrust of African American culture in those people who fear freedom.This goes back to old time religious notions of sin and retribution.Of course, today we are all one big American family, but the distinctions are still being made.Lately I have seen more clearly than ever, the destructive effects of Institutionalized religion which equates with institutionalized masculinity, which has robbed men of the joy of feeling whole and fulfilled.Designed to reign in the people, to control them and to get them in line to march into domination over nature, it has done its job well. As we used to say, it has done a number on us!This is not to denounce devotion, reverence and the very real feeling of a responsive universe.There is a natural spirituality in us that will always come to the forefront as we live in accord with Nature.My stance on religion is about superstition and dogma which have no basis in truth.This is about our fear of being alive and responsible for our experience.We blame a made up evil power for our violence or attribute the cause of suffering to the will of some male God in the sky.Our hearts have been co-opted and our minds have been corrupted.The feminine aspect of our true nature belongs with the lilt and swing camp.Our hips sway, our bodies are fluid and in tune with the moon.The Feminine is free but she is not out of control.She is in charge of the environment. She is the organizer of families.She is the keeper of the flame.She will dance to the drum, but she is fierce when called to defend her brood. She is desperately needed in our world view, in our policy making, in our decisions for our future.She is desperately needed in our men.Without her, the sacred masculine cannot emerge.For more about the Sacred masculine check out the writings of Matthew Fox, founder of Creation Spirituality.

The great American Man of Letters, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote at age 41, “be an opener of doors for such as come after thee and do not try to make the universe a blind alley.”I interpret this to mean, contribute to the overall wisdom of the world. Do not perpetuate superstition and dogma.Challenge the isms that limit our experience of the greater good.Share your ideas with the young.Teach them to think critically.Show the power of Love by your own actions. None of us lives in a private reality to the exclusion of the collective.We can go along with the tribes’ beliefs or we can be part of raising our shared version of reality.Those who speak out and challenge ideas that belonged in ancient times but do not serve us today, are making a great impression on the whole.We live in a field of awareness. We are all one in it.What is known at one point in the field can be known in all parts of the field.As we heard a few decades back ‘you are either part of the problem or part of the solution.”No life is meaningless or unimportant.Any group we belong to has a collective consciousness. Groups tend to devolve or become stagnant if there are no new ideas infused into them.The tendency is to keep things the same or to go back to earlier times or to throw out what is essential, if there is not some visionary leadership.However, we assume leadership for the moment when we introduce bold new concepts that could eoke some creative energy into the mix. There is a collective belief that religion should not evolve?But why not?We invented it in the first place as a way to describe the universe to ourselves. The universe is such a mystery we will always try to make sense of it and our place in it. That is the purpose of science. We made up God and we made “him” in the image and likeness of those in power on planet earth, namely kings and other male figures.That viewpoint became the model for all configurations of human relationships; male power at the top to the exclusion of the female.Father knows best.We set up our families in that model, churches, societies, governments, corporations, medicine, education and everything else.I remember vividly in 1961 when I, as a talented hairdresser, working for an exclusive salon and was not allowed to charge as much for my work as the male stylists. I was as gifted as any of them and in some cases, more so.That is merely indicative of the depth of the problem.The value of the Feminine perspective is completely missing in our world.We have invented a God that will not allow us to evolve as a species.We have been threatened with death on many levels if we dare to question the God we have created.It happened to Jesus who dared to claim the Source was within the human field of consciousness.The Inquisition is still going on in many parts of the world in the guise of God’s will being done. Those who think outside the traditional religion box are ridiculed, feared and ostracized.Atheists are more hated than sexists or racists.That reflects the collective agenda to keep the male God in charge which means keep all power with men to the exclusion of women.Didn’t a politician recently declare “women are a lesser cut of meat?”That is a violent and telling remark.It underscores the fear of the Feminine.But Eve did not arise out of the rib of the male.Eve is the equal partner of the masculine. Without her, he is a destroyer.Without him, she is a dreamer.Together they are the image and likeness of God. As fully integrated beings, we become visionary builders with the good of future generations in mind.Emerson also said“beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on the planet.”Yes thinkers are a threat to the status quo, and innovative thoughts are a threat to our personal habituated life as well.But that is exactly what is required of us if we want to keep the doors of perception open to the next generation and the next.Yes, you and I are that great thinker. You and I are the ones we have been waiting for, you and I are the solution. It is in our nature to evolve, to contribute, to open the doors of our shared perception. We are beginning to awaken to the spiritual truth of our own being.As Rumi said so eloquently “don’t go back to sleep.”

By Carol CarnesYou may know her as Hillary or Carly or Elizabeth but her real name is Eve.All women carry that label in the subjective realm of our collective unconscious. The allegorical tale of Adam and Eve has been misinterpreted, misunderstood and accepted as an irrefutable condemnation of the Feminine, which has resulted in the subjugation of women in almost every culture on earth.The rights of women were not included in the founding documents of America because we were considered creatures, not full humans. Eve represents the bitch, the temptress, the siren that caused the Fall of Man (men).She listens to the serpent (the devil).She makes it impossible for men to control their impulses. Therefore, at the risk of over simplification, she is the cause of her own rape.Some cultures will stone her to death for it while in the west she is humiliated, not believed and portrayed as a whore or a careless twit. Because of the belief that she is dangerous to men, she is to be feared, denigrated, controlled and kept imprisoned in the darker recesses of our awareness. Hence, throw a Burka over her head (or a glass ceiling) and pretend she is not there, except to be used at will.Eve is actually the Feminine Principle, the other half of God, if you will, that which is so tragically missing in our constructed reality.She is the organizer, the relationship energy.She includes all sentient beings in her decision making. She is for life, not death. She thinks long term.She is the tempering force that the masculine needs to be authentic.The masculinity in our midst is not the true masculine power. That is not to say the true masculine cannot be seen in some men in our world. He is the one who is balanced with his feminine nature. Barack Obama is such a man.He is strong and decisive yet tends to include and organize as a way to empower others.He is the perfect example of yin and yang in right relationship. His wife, Michelle is also perfectly balanced.A sharp lawyer, quick thinking and unafraid to voice her opinion, she is also caring, compassionate and eager to help the world’s children, who will one day be our leaders.There are many such people but they are rarely in international positions of leadership.The fact that we elected Mr. Obama is a good sign that we are subjectively moving in the right direction. At this point it is not about what Mr. Obama has done or his politics, but the person he is.He is the unflappable feminine in charge of the powerful masculine within himself.Jimmy Carter was such a man, way ahead of his time. The addition of the Feminine Principle into our awareness as needed and necessary is a threat to those in power.When she awakens in us, male or female, she demands the true masculine to be her partner.This means a laying down of emotional weapons and the opening up of our higher intelligence in dialogue and shared vision.The Feminine will not send her sons into armed conflict for profit and that is a concern to the unevolved masculine who thinks war is a good solution to human problems or more likely, a way to line his pockets. The true masculine knows that is no longer a viable option. He knows there is enough of everything for everybody and it is a matter of distribution. The question is not “are we ready for a woman president?The question is, “do any of these women candidates have their Feminine power in balance with the masculine that they have had to adopt to get where they are?We do not need an Iron Maiden. We do not need a gun-toting warrior with a vagina. We need a clear thinking, heart centered leader who will consider the long term ramifications of her decisions.We need a president who will gather the collected wisdom of the “family” and make use of it, regardless of where it originates.The feminine is a ‘big picture’ consciousness.During this time of climate change and the ecological breakdown of natural systems, we need the vision of “the mother.”Whether this comes in the physical form of a male or female is not relevant.When Adam embraces Eve as his full partner, we just might be able to restore our world to the Garden it was and could be again.We will never reach our true potential until Eve is allowed take her rightful place in our self image. The answer is not either masculine or feminine, one to the exclusion of the other.It is wholeness in the form of men and women.